BELLS AND REALITY

The bell from the catholic church just by the corner of fourth street rang, signaling the beginning of the catholic mass.

This was the only reason most people hated the neighborhood. The annoying sound of the bell.

Somehow it got linked to every mishap that took place in the hood. For some, it was a nuisance and for others, it served as an alarm. Arousing them from their deep sleep, or mishap, while some, it brought them to terms with reality.

The occupants of the single room, just adjacent to the church, belonged to the last group.

Emily Sue with a sad and faraway look in her eyes sat quietly on a double sized bed, her hands supporting her head which was bent, on both sides.

Her nose and eyes were red and puffy, you could see that she'd be crying. Litters of used tissue lay scattered on the floor of the tiny room she shared with her roommate.

Not because she couldn't afford a better living space, but because she didn't think she would live long enough to enjoy such luxury, so, instead of living an extravagant life, why not stash away the cash somewhere where it would be given to the orphanage after her death?

"What do you want?" Her roommate Lauren, sitting at the opposite end of the bed they shared together asked, a question that was meant to liven the gloomy aura.

"Hundred thousand dollars." Emily replied, smiling timidly.

Lauren smiled. "Just a hundred dollars? If you had mentioned something better and bigger, I would have given it to you. But a hundred dolls? That's too small." She teased sarcastically.

Emily smiled faintly.

"Come here." Lauren said, patting the space beside her and watching as Emily scooted over. "Everything is going to be okay, okay?"

Nothing was going to be okay. Nothing was ever going to be okay. She had cancer and just got told by the doctor that she had barely one month to be alive! Nothing was going to be okay, but she didn't voice out what she thought, instead she sobbed harder and watched as the tears ran down Lauren's dress.

"What are you doing?" Lauren asked, lifting Emily face by the jaw lightly. "You're crying? Why are you crying? Did I say anything wrong?"

Emily shook her head a no, when instead she wanted to say yes.

"Honestly, Emily, with the way you shed tears, if you were being paid, you'd be fu**ing rich by today." Lauren ran her hands soothingly over her hair. Stroking it lightly. Forward and backward. Forward and backward.

Emily laughed lightly at the truth in Lauren's words. She didn't want to laugh. She was sad. And intended to be sad.

"You're going to be okay." Lauren said, again.

Emily grabbed the piece of jewelry hanging loosely around her neck till the tightness of it, left red blotches around her neck.

"You don't know that." Emily looked up for the first time, and Lauren mentally cringed.

Emily wasn't beautiful by any means but she wasn't plain either. She had this pair of beautiful big sad blue eyes that if you stared too much, you would find yourself drowning in their depth.

Her eyes brought out her features and made her look tough. Her eyes could leave anyone tensed up and feeling anxious.

"True that I don't know." Lauren smiled, "but I have faith that things will be alright."

"Faith?" Emily scoffed sarcastically. "I long forgot what that word meant."

"Well, I didn't forget. And like I always say, don't always believe entirely, a doctor's prediction."

The tears in Emily's eyes formed a pool again and when their depth could no longer hold them back, began to run down her face.

"But honestly Lauren, isn't it sad that I am a dentist that works really hard to cure people of any mouth infection and even go far and beyond my profession to see that my patients are happy," Emily stopped to wipe mucu that was drooling down her nose with the hem of her shirt and kept the tears flowing, "But why can't the doctors find a perfect chemo treatment for me?"

Lauren licked her bottom lips. Wetting it.

She didn't know how to answer that question.

"Emily-

"Do you know? Maybe I offended someone in my previous life? I must have offended an old lady and gotten her pissed that made her curse me." Her eyes were really puffy now. Her nose was so red and Lauren could see that she was beginning to have eye bags.

She didn't know people with cancer had to deal with so much pain.

The mucus from Emily's nose now rolled down her nose, over her mouth and tapered at the edge of her chin with reckless abandon.

Lauren couldn't say it, but it felt cringy to watch. Just when it was about to drop on the bed, Lauren dashed for the wipes that sat on the bedside table and dabbed it off. Sighing in relief.

"You're too innocent, even at twenty four, to hurt anybody." Lauren encouraged her sincerely. "How can you, a virgin at twenty four, hurt an old woman? That's wistful thinking."

Emily sagged on the bed until her head was the only thing resting against the bed frame.

"Maybe it's because my parents are dead." Emily coiled into a perfect round ball making Laurent marvel.

Unlike Lauren, Emily had a slender and petite but curvy body. Her tiny waist accentuated perfectly over any dress she wore, proof that she didn't joke with her gyming sessions.

Lauren hid back a smile, recalling that she had once thought that a strong wind was capable of blowing Emily into another continent until they had a brawl together and Laurent realized that Emily wasn't as light and feathery as she looked.

"All human beings die." Lauren reminded her, flicking her on the head. "Those are the characteristics of living things."

"That's cruel. But even if we have to die, isn't it only right that we die at a very old age? When our waists are bent and stiffened. Our teeth are discolored and incomplete as a result of constant tobacco abuse and our skin is all wrinkled and dried up?"

Lauren smiled.

She once used to think like that. But now, it wasn't as much fun as it used to be. Now, they were just mere thoughts.

"God gives life, and he takes it back as well." Lauren said quietly.

"Is that a good thing?" Emily asked, gripping Lauren's fingers in hers.

"You would get a perfect answer, if you channel that question to God directly." Lauren pinched her right cheek playfully. "Can you stop crying?"

"Sure." Emily replied, sitting up immediately and wiping the tears off her face. "Turn on the Tv. Let's watch some news."

"News?" Lauren asked to be sure she'd heard correctly but doing as requested.

"If I'm dying, I atleast have to make my remaining life on earth worthwhile, don't you think?" Emily asked, brightening up a bit, "If I have the opportunity to come back but under one condition, which is the last time I listened to the news, I'll remember today."

Lauren nodded and pointed the remote controller at the Tv.

"The news is the same these days, coupled with survival tips." Lauren filled her In.

"I never watch the news." Emily pointed out. "Why do they give out survival tips? They act like they care about how the people of Romania survive?"

"You really don't listen to the news, do you?" Lauren shook her head, "of course there's been a strange death occurrence lately. Death toll in this part of Romania is on the rise."

Emily's eyes bulged. "What do you mean by strange death? Death is strange ofcourse. Or isn't it?" She asked, sitting up right.

"That's not it." Lauren said, eager to fill Emily in, "These people are believed to be killed by serial killers lurking in the woods. On their body, strange marks were found, a deep black hole, punctured on their neck. Just yesterday, the news claimed that the deaths were caused by vampire's."

Emily scoffed loudly and almost laughed but quieted down, remembering she had made a promise to remain sad.

"Vampire's? Like in Dracula? Twilight and the vampire series? Or Blade?" She scoffed again. "Trust the media to make up stories to cover the actual cause of death."

Lauren stared long and hard at her, the disbelief in her eyes visible from a mile away.

"You really don't believe in the existence of vampires?"

Emily laughed this time. "Don't tell me you do? " And laughed harder after seeing the terrified look on Lauren's face. "Vampire's are made up tales. Horrible creatures like that shouldn't even exist. I would willingly take my own life if I found out they did."

Lauren bit down on her dry lips. "Vampire's do exist, Emily."

Emily looked at her carefully, wondering at the seriousness in her tone. Why was she so serious? She thought, delving into a can of pringles.

"I don't believe in things like vampirism. And even if they do exist, I don't ever want to meet one."

"Me too." Lauren said in a haste, like she wanted to be done with such a topic. Borrowing the can of pringles from Emily, she chipped in, "I thought sad people don't eat?"

"I'm not sad anymore." Emily scrunched her shoulders together. "Besides, you can't qualify this as eating, it's called snacking."

"Good! So far as you're up to it and happy." Lauren sounded like she didn't believe her, "you're so messy and ugly when you cry."

Emily's hand found the thin jewelry on her neck and squeezed it lightly. "You mean uglier?" She asked quietly.

Lauren choosed to say nothing but basked instead, in the warm and cool breeze of the night, that blew in through the open window.

The two sat in silence watching the news or not, the can of pringles in-between them.

That night, they dosed off watching the news.

While she slept, Emily had a dream, and in her dream, she saw a man covered in blood, he was requesting for his tooth.